What Tottenham games Rodrigo Bentancur will miss as Premier League red card rules explained

Rodrigo Bentancur will miss some huge Premier League games for Tottenham Hotspur due to suspension.

Roberto De Zerbi will be without Rodrigo Bentancur for three Premier League games, having been sent off for violent conduct during Tottenham Hotspur's hard-fought draw with Manchester United.

In the final quarter of an hour at Old Trafford on Saturday night, the ball broke free down the left-hand side, and, desperate to extinguish the assault on his backline, the Lilywhites midfielder dived into a tackle on Luke Shaw. The Red Devils defender hurdled Bentancur, who won the ball.

Unhappy with the challenge, Matheus Cunha charged over to smash the ball into the advertising board, but the Uruguay international managed to clear his lines just before his opposition arrived on the scene. By which point, Stewart Atwell had already blown his whistle, adjudging Bentancur to have just fouled Shaw.

The Tottenham midfielder was then shoved off the pitch by the Red Devils defender, falling to the ground in a heap. Bentancur leapt to his feet and planted his head in the face of Shaw, sparking a mass brawl.

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The Uruguayan was eventually shown a red card, which was quickly confirmed by the Video Assistant Referee. As quoted by the Premier League Match Centre, they said: "He puts his head into Shaw with some force – that’s violent conduct. He stands up and into Shaw, and there’s a movement of the head."

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, De Zerbi accepted that his player had made a 'mistake', but added that it sparked the reaction his side needed to salvage a point. He said: "I kissed Bentancur in the dressing room because we need this type of reaction, this character.

"Football is character. I liked the situation with the red card. We need at this moment the situation, not to bring a red card, but we need to not accept the defeat."

De Zerbi continued: "I'm very happy because I've seen the right spirit, the right character, and I want to start from this character, this reaction, this behaviour. Now the target is to build the team

"We are a great group of players, but we are not a team yet, and to be a team is to play for the teammates, suffer together, attack together."

He added: "Today has been the game where, for the first time this season, we showed we are a team. We played for the teammates, we played together, we stayed inside the game in every situation, and we attacked as a team and defended as a team."

Coventry City (H) – Premier League – Monday, October 19

Frank Lampard has failed to defeat Tottenham in each of his last four attempts as a manager, despite having done the double with Chelsea in 2019/20. They won their first game of the Premier League season just before the international break, defeating Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, so they could be full of confidence.

Chelsea (A) – Premier League – Saturday, October 24

The Battle of the Bridge will be played under the lights at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea have won 11 of their last 13 games against Tottenham across all competitions, regardless of the venue, losing just once, so De Zerbi will want to set the record straight, even if he is without Bentancur to stoke the fire.

Crystal Palace (H) – Premier League – Saturday, October 31

Crystal Palace will only have two days to prepare for their trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, having reached the Carabao Cup fourth round, so De Zerbi will be under pressure to put the extra time on the training pitch to good use.